JPS6246981B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a semiconductor substrate appearance inspection apparatus that performs an appearance inspection of a semiconductor substrate after each step in a semiconductor substrate manufacturing process.

In each processing step such as crystal growth processing, photoetching processing, chemical or electrical etching processing in the semiconductor substrate manufacturing process, the surface of the semiconductor substrate after each processing is examined using a metallographic microscope or A commonly used inspection method is to magnify the image to a desired magnification using a camera or the like and visually observe it.

The above-mentioned semiconductor substrate appearance inspection is a necessary work to confirm the appropriateness of the processing conditions in the pre-processing, and if the processing conditions are inappropriate, to understand the details of the defect and give instructions to correct the processing conditions. This is an important task to reduce the incidence of defects in each processing step of the manufacturing process.

A conventional semiconductor substrate appearance inspection apparatus used for semiconductor substrate appearance inspection will be explained with reference to the schematic diagrams shown in the plan view of FIG. 1 and the front view of FIG. 1
, a semiconductor substrate mounting table 2 that can be moved horizontally and rotationally manually or by a motor drive system and holds the semiconductor substrate by a vacuum fixing method, an observation section 3 using a metallurgical microscope or camera, etc., and a vertical function using a motor. It is composed of a non-defective storage section 4 and a defective storage section 5 for semiconductor substrates, and a semiconductor substrate transport mechanism 6 that transports semiconductor substrates to each storage section by an air loader method, a belt loader method, etc., and stores a plurality of semiconductor substrates. The carrier 8 is set in the supply section 1, and the transport mechanism 6 transports the semiconductor substrates 9 stored in the carrier one by one to the mounting stand 2.
An operator visually inspects the surface of the semiconductor substrate held in the storage section 3 through the observation section 3 to determine whether it is a good product or a defective product, and then stores the semiconductor substrate into each storage section.

In addition, in a normal appearance inspection work method, in order to improve work efficiency, one place or about four to five places at the center and periphery of a semiconductor substrate are observed and judged as good or bad. Therefore, if dirt, scratches, etc. are present on the surface of the semiconductor substrate other than the observation area, it is difficult to discover them. If post-processing is performed with dirt, scratches, etc. present on the surface of a semiconductor substrate, not only will that part become defective, but it will also have an adverse effect on other semiconductor substrates processed at the same time. It may also contaminate the equipment used.

In order to prevent the above-mentioned negative effects on post-processing, it is necessary to discover some dirt, scratches, etc. on the surface of the semiconductor substrate during appearance inspection work, but conventional semiconductor substrate appearance inspection equipment does not allow observation. Since the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate must be observed through part 3, work efficiency is significantly reduced. Further, it is difficult to detect some dirt, scratches, etc. on the surface of a semiconductor substrate even when visually observed under general illumination because of the diffused light.

The present invention provides a semiconductor substrate for easily discovering dirt, scratches, etc. on a part of the surface of a semiconductor substrate without reducing work efficiency in contrast to conventional appearance inspection equipment, and for preventing adverse effects in the post-processing. The present invention provides an appearance inspection device.

The present invention will be explained with reference to the schematic diagrams shown in the plan view of FIG. 3 and the front view of FIG. 4.
An irradiation device 7 that irradiates the surface of a semiconductor substrate held on a rotatable mounting table 2 with parallel light or pseudo-parallel light from any direction is added to the conventional semiconductor substrate appearance inspection apparatus described in FIG. 2. It is. This irradiation device 7 is a device that uses a reflecting mirror to irradiate parallel rays or rays as close to parallel rays as possible, that is, pseudo-parallel rays. The surface of the semiconductor substrate held on the mounting table 2 is irradiated with parallel light or quasi-parallel light from the irradiation device 7, the semiconductor substrate is rotated, and the reflected light is observed with the naked eye. Dirt, scratches, etc. can be easily found on the entire surface.

As described above, the present invention uses microscopic observation and visual observation in combination to prevent defects from being overlooked without reducing the efficiency of semiconductor substrate appearance inspection work, and to reduce the incidence of defects in each processing process. I can do that.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are a plan view and a front view, respectively, showing a conventional inspection apparatus, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are a plan view and a front view, respectively, showing an inspection apparatus of the present invention. 1... Semiconductor substrate supply section, 2... Semiconductor substrate mounting stand, 3... Semiconductor substrate observation section, 4... Semiconductor substrate good product storage section, 5... Semiconductor substrate defective product storage section,
6...Semiconductor substrate transport mechanism, 7...Parallel or quasi-parallel light irradiation device, 8...Semiconductor substrate storage carrier, 9...Semiconductor substrate.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rotatable mounting table on which a semiconductor substrate is placed;
In a semiconductor substrate appearance inspection apparatus that has a semiconductor substrate supply section, a non-defective product storage section, and a defective product storage section that are connected to the mounting table by a loader for moving semiconductor substrates, and is equipped with a microscope on the top of the mounting table, A semiconductor substrate appearance inspection apparatus, characterized in that a device is added as an irradiation device for visual inspection before microscopic inspection, which irradiates the surface of the semiconductor substrate mounted on the mounting table with parallel light or pseudo-parallel light from any direction. .